Part 21: Pinocchio
Release: 1940
Notable Director(s): Norman Ferguson and Ben Sharpsteen

When Disney wanted to convey a message for a film, they really hammer it down. Every single Disney feature has a moral at the end and the plot always seems to focus on that moral. The whole point of Pinocchio is that if you work hard in life, then you will be rewarded for your work. Pinocchio the puppet, brought to life thanks to the Blue Fairy, just wants to be a real boy. The fairy states that he needs to learn to be brave, truthful, unselfish, and know between right and wrong to become real. Of course there is something or someone to show the puppet that being the opposite of this ideal is just as good in life. I think we all know where this is gonna go when we get to the final minutes of the film.

Looking back with my memory of the picture, I recall not liking this so much. This seems to be the case for a lot of Disney features on first impressions for me. Something just never clicked in my brain as a child, most of the time, when seeing the early days of Disney. When watching this more recently I can definitely say Pinocchio has grown on me in some aspects. It's only Disney's second feature, but there is just so much to take in with animation and storytelling with this. They ignored a good portion of the original fairy tale (by Carlo Collodi) but they are still able to convey the original premise of the story.

There should be praise to Disney's most underrated character: Jimmy Cricket. This is gonna come out so silly but I just love the Cricket to death. Partly because the studio chose Cliff Edwards aka the best voice ever in Hollywood to play the character. He comes across like he's your grandfather; always charming and ready to give you helpful advice at any moment. The moment you know Cricket is the best thing ever in this film comes from the rendition of 'When You Wish Upon a Star' sung by him and right at the beginning of the picture. Goosebumps, I literally get goosebumps every single time I listen to that song. I really think he does the best preformance in this entire film. no offense to the other actors for the characters. Jimmy Cricket is a bit underrated now when I see Disney products today. He pops up from time to time, but he never seems to have an impact with the characters anymore. Not to veer off from this particular film, but I think Jimmy Cricket was up there with Mickey Mouse as an icon of the company during first couple of decades for the studio. Now a days, not so much; which is a shame. I want more Jimmy Cricket!

Disney definitely took a long look at certain areas of Italy during the making of this. What I love about the old days of Disney is the background and establishing shots of their work. So beautiful to look at and it really can be considered a work of art just by looking at these backgrounds. It's so realistic at points when seeing some of the scenes going on. Background are flowing and they aren't static; it's almost a living world. When we get to Pleasure Island, it's just a tour de force of animation. It's what made Disney so famous in the first place with the old black&white shorts. The scenes on the island are abstract and almost everything is alive (and singing no less). The entire sequence of 'I Got No Strings' with Pinocchio singing and the other puppets playing along is just a fantastic sequence. Those are really amazing puppeteers if you think about. I do have one gripe with the animation is with Pinocchio and Geppetto, shockingly. I think those two are ironically out of place with this version Disney animated. They look too cartoony while the rest of the feature looks almost realistic. Sure talking animals are cartoony, but they are drawn very differently then the main cast. Also, got to mention another Fleischer rip off with the Blue Fairy in this. Some little mistakes, but they don't hamper the rest of the feature.

This is not going to be remembered, for me anyways, as the most memorible Disney film. It's certainly a beautiful looking film at times and it's got Cliff Edwards to make it an enjoyable experience. But even enjoying this more another go around, it still doesn't connect to me fully on a story level. When you put it in your head that this is Disney's second film and they would only get 'better' from here, it certainly blows your mind that this is only their second try. On a whole it's a considered a classic for a reason, but it's not a perfect film overall.

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